August halts sales of its View doorbell due to performance issues
August recalls its View Doorbell Camera due to problems with performance.
August has stopped selling its View Doorbell Camera until it can fix some "key issues."
August has temporarily halted sales of its new $230 View Doorbell Camera.
The company cites performance issues with the camera in a blog post published Friday. Here's what August founder and CEO, Jason Johnson, had to say in the post:
"We recently began shipping the August View, our first battery-powered doorbell camera. While we remain excited to bring this product to more customers, we are aware of some performance challenges in specific user environments. When you purchase an August product, you trust us with the most important parts of your life: your home and your family. We value your trust greatly and it is our top priority. In order to fully evaluate the user feedback, implement critical improvements, run further testing, and keep our commitment to you, we are pausing shipping of the August View.
"If you are an August View customer and would like to keep your product and help us improve the performance, you may receive a full refund by applying here within the next seven days (ends 5/3/2019). If you have not activated your unit or would not like to provide feedback, please contact the retail location you purchased from to initiate a return.
"August View will be on sale again in the near future and when we have a date to share, you'll be the first to know."
The app regularly says: "Connecting to your August View, please be patient, this takes about 15 seconds," which is frustrating when you want to see your live feed ASAP.
The View is August's next-gen doorbell. Unlike the company's previous hardwired, square buzzers, the View is battery powered and rectangular.
I didn't like that I had to wait 15 seconds to see the live video feed after clicking the "watch live" button in the August app, but found the doorbell easy to install and use. And while I prefer the battery-powered Ring Video Doorbell 2 to August's View, it worked decently well for me.
When I asked for more details on the specific issues, an August spokesperson told me they're related to the boot up time that bothered me during testing.
August has removed the View from stores "until these key issues are resolved" and will issue refunds through May 3.
We'll provide updates as we learn more. In the meantime, read about some of the other smart doorbells available today.
